Meningitis, Most people who become infected with Toxoplasma are not aware of it. Some people who have toxoplasmosis may feel as if they have the "flu" with swollen lymph glands or muscle aches and pains that last for a month or more. Severe toxoplasmosis, causing damage to the brain, eyes, or other organs, can develop from an acute Toxoplasma infection or one that had occurred earlier in life and is now reactivated. Severe cases are more likely in individuals who have weak immune systems, though occasionally, even persons with healthy immune systems may experience eye damage from toxoplasmosis. Symptoms of ocular toxoplasmosis can include reduced vision, blurred vision, pain (often with bright light), redness of the eye, and sometimes tearing. Ophthalmologists sometimes prescribe medicine to treat active disease. Whether or not medication is recommended depends on the size of the eye lesion, the location, and the characteristics of the lesion (acute active, versus chronic not progressing). An opthamologist may provide the best care for ocular toxoplasmosis. Most infants who are infected while still in the womb have no symptoms at birth, but they may develop symptoms later in life. A small percentage of infected newborns have serious eye or brain damage at birth.http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/toxoplasmosis/factsht_toxoplasmosis.htm#what

Clinical manifestations may mimic those of other opportunistic infections. Necrotizing encephalitis, pneumonitis, and myocarditis are the most common autopsy findings. The most frequent clinical findings reflect involvement of these 3 organ systems, although disseminated toxoplasmosis is being described with increasing frequency. Incidence of toxoplasmic encephalitis in patients with AIDS is correlated directly with the presence of antitoxoplasmal antibodies. In patients with AIDS, CNS involvement is the most common manifestation, ranging from nonspecific, generalized symptoms to focal findings such as headache, altered levels of consciousness, motor impairment, and seizures.Pulmonary involvement is the second most common manifestation. Clinically, patients may appear to have tuberculosis or infection with Pneumocystis carinii.http://knowledge.emedicine.com/cgi-bin/kni.pl?va=i.%0D%0Afrequency%3A&book=Medical

Most often, you won't know that you've contracted toxoplasmosis, although some people may develop signs and symptoms similar to those of the flu or mononucleosis, such as:Body aches, Swollen lymph nodes, Fever, Fatigue, Occasionally, a sore throat.

The risk and severity of your baby's infection often depends on when in your pregnancy you were infected. Your baby is most at risk of toxoplasmosis if you become infected in the third trimester and least at risk if you become infected during the first trimester. On the other hand, the earlier in your pregnancy infection occurs, the more serious the outcome for your baby. Many early infections end in stillbirth or miscarriage, and children who do survive are likely to be born with serious problems, such as:An unusually large head caused by excess accumulation in the brain of the clear fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid), a condition known medically as hydrocephalusSeizuresAn enlarged liver and spleenYellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)Severe eye infectionsChildren born to mothers infected during the second trimester, when the possibility of transmission is greater, also may be born with serious problems, although only a small number of babies who have toxoplasmosis show signs of the disease at birth. Instead, the majority of infected newborns — mainly those whose mothers were infected during the last three months of pregnancy (third trimester) — don't develop signs and symptoms of the disease until they're in their 20s or 30s. Those signs and symptoms include:Hearing lossMental retardationSerious eye infections that may lead to blindness

Common symptoms of Balantidiasis include chronic diarrhea, occasional dysentery (diarrhea with passage of blood or mucus), nausea, foul breath, colitis (inflammation of the colon), abdominal pain, weight loss, deep intestinal ulcerations, and possibly perforation of the intestine. Left untreated, it is reported to have a case fatality rate of 30%. Dysentery due to hemorrhaging (bleeding) can lead to shock and death.http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2003/Balantidium/Clinical_Presentation.htm

Hyaluronidase is produced by this organism, which may enhance its ability to invade the mucosa. Pneumonia has been described in patients with cancer-related immunosuppressant. Diarrhea (watery, bloody, mucoid)Nausea, Vomiting, Abdominal pain, Anorexia, Weight loss, Headache, Mild colitis, More severe and marked fluid loss (resembling amebic dysentery),Patients may present with abdominal tenderness and, in cases with prolonged diarrhea,signs of dehydration. May cause severe colitis with peritonitishttp://www.emedicine.com/med/topic203.htm

Balantidiasis is transmitted primarily by eating food or drinking water that has been contaminated by human or animal feces containing B. coli cysts. In the digestive tract, the cysts are transported to the intestine where the walls of the cysts are broken open by digestive secretions, releasing the mobile trophozoites. Once released within the intestine, the trophozoites multiply by feeding on intestinal bacteria or by invading the lining of the large intestine. Within the lining of the large intestine, the trophozoites secrete a substance that destroys intestinal tissue and creates sores (ulcers) or abscesses.The most common symptoms of balantidiasis are chronic diarrhea or severe colitis with abdominal cramps, pain, and bloody stools. Complications may include intestinal perforation in which the intestinal wall becomes torn, but the organisms do not spread to other parts of the body in the blood stream.http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/balantidiasis.jsp

Infection of colon characterized by diarrhea or dysentery; accompanied by abdominal colic, tenesmus, nausea, and vomiting with bloody and mucoid stools, Cysts survive for long periods in the environment, CONTAINMENT REQUIREMENTS: Biosafety level 2 practices are recommended for activities involving infectious stages of the parasitehttp://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/msds-ftss/msds15e.html

Gastroenteritis, mild diarrhea to severe dysentery may occur. Extraintestinal infections include liver abscesses. The motile trophozoite feeds on bacteria and tissue, reproduces, colonizes the lumen and the mucosa of the large intestine, and sometimes invades tissues and organs, Some trophozoites in the colonic lumen become cysts that are excreted with stool. E. histolytica trophozoites adhere to and kill colonic epithelial cells and PMNs and can cause dysentery with blood and mucus. They also secrete proteases that degrade the extracellular matrix and permit invasion into the intestine wall and beyond. Trophozoites can spread via the portal circulation and cause necrotic liver abscesses. Infection may spread by direct extension from the liver or through the bloodstream to the lungs, brain, and other organs.

Symptoms that occur with tissue invasion include intermittent diarrhea and constipation, flatulence, and cramping abdominal pain. Tenderness over the liver or ascending colon may occur, and stools may contain mucus and blood.

Amebic dysentery common in the tropics, presents with episodes of frequent semiliquid stools that often contain blood, mucus, and live trophozoites. Abdominal findings range from mild tenderness to frank abdominal pain, with high fevers and toxic systemic symptoms. Abdominal tenderness frequently accompanies amebic colitis. Between relapses, symptoms diminish to recurrent cramps and loose or very soft stools, but emaciation and anemia may develop. Symptoms suggestive of appendicitis may occur. Surgery in such cases may result in peritoneal spread of amebas.

Extraintestinal disease originates from infection in the colon and can involve any organ, but a liver abscess, usually single and in the right lobe, is the most common. It can present in patients without prior symptoms, is more common in men than in women (7:1 to 9:1), and may develop insidiously. Symptoms include pain or discomfort over the liver, which is occasionally referred to the right shoulder; intermittent fever; sweats; chills; nausea; vomiting; weakness; and weight loss. Jaundice is unusual and low grade when present. The abscess may perforate into the subphrenic space, right pleural cavity, right lung, or other adjacent organs. Skin lesions are occasionally observed, especially around the perineum and buttocks in chronic infection, and may also occur in traumatic or operative wounds.

Nondysenteric amebiasis may be misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome, regional enteritis, or diverticulitis. Amebic dysentery may be confused with shigellosis, salmonellosis, schistosomiasis, or ulcerative colitis.

Onset is acute, with profuse watery diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and, less commonly, nausea, anorexia, fever, and malaise. No drugs have been found that kill Cryptosporidium in people with diarrhea. (Merck)